A Season's Field Work 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



With photographs by the author 



THE many readers of Bird-Lore who have expressed an interest in the 

 ' Habitat Groups ' of North American birds, now being prepared in the 

 American Museum of Natural History, may care to hear briefly of the field 

 work accomplished in connection with these groups during the past season. This 

 work can be prosecuted only during the nesting season. 



The studies for this year were, therefore, planned to cover as long a nesting 

 period as possible, beginning with southern species which nest as early as January, 

 and ending with northern birds which are not concerned with domestic affairs 

 until July. In brief, the schedule was as follows: 



March, southeastern Bahamas for Alan-o'-war Birds and Boobies (Siila 



leiicogastra). 

 April, southern border of the Florida Everglades for Spoonbills and Ibises. 

 May, South Carolina for White Egrets. 

 June, plains of Saskatchewan for Wild Geese and Grebes. 

 July, summits of the Canadian Rockies for Ptarmigan and other arctic- 

 alpine birds. 

 The species of birds here included show wide variation in form and in nesting 

 habit, while the country in which they live, — their habitat — presents an even 

 greater diversity as we pass from a coral islet to a mangrove swamp or cypress 

 forest, or over rolling plains to snow-clad mountain crests. The subjects selected 

 were thus designed to add to the zoological as well as the geographical instruc- 

 tiveness of the exhibits as a whole. 



A series of mishaps so prolonged the Bahaman expedition that I was pre- 

 vented from reaching the Everglades in time to find Spoonbills nesting, but, with 

 this exception, the schedule outlined above was followed with eminently satis- 

 factory results. 



On March 28, with Dr. Alfred M. Mayer and Mr. George Shiras, 3d, I sailed 

 from Miami, Florida, for Nassau, Bahamas, aboard the 58-foot auxiliary ketch 

 ' Physalia, ' belonging to the Marine Biological laboratory of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution. Dr. Alfred M. Mayer, director of the laboratory, was in command. 

 To Dr. Mayer's cooperation the Museum is indebted for the success which 

 attended our efforts to secure material and studies for the group of Alan-o'-War 

 Birds and Boobies; indeed, had it not been for Dr. Mayer's skillful seamanship, 

 it is probable that the expedition would not have returned. 



Nassau was reached March 29, at midnight. Laboratory supplies were here 

 landed for the use of members of the staff, who proposed to pursue their studies 

 in this vicinity, and, permission to collect the birds needed having been prompdy 

 granted by the Bahaman Government, we set sail for Cay Verde, March 31, 

 at 7 A. M. 



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